Insider Advantage Georgia

August 1, 2018

GA Budget and Policy Institute: ‘Immigration enforcement not worth expense’

D.A. King
“The concept that I should stop a program that deports illegal aliens who have committed crimes in our community defies logic.” – Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway responding to critics who say local immigration enforcement is too expensive.

The most recently released Georgia Budget and Policy Institute “study” aimed at an end to voluntary local government cooperation with federal immigration authorities should move GBPI from a “left-leaning on immigration” description to solidly “anti-enforcement.”

And it should be long remembered.

Wesley Tharpe, author of the GBPI’s ‘Voluntary Immigration Enforcement a Costly Choice for Georgia Communities’ presents a rather bizarre and anti-American argument that locating, holding and turning over illegal aliens to ICE – after they have already been captured for suspicion of other crimes – is too costly. And is bad for children. And that removing illegal aliens from Georgia communities has a negative effect on public safety.

We can’t help but note that the GBPI opposition to honoring ICE detainers and to 287(g) agreements is based on the usual mindless talking points that are endlessly put forth by the usual anti-borders suspects on the far left, including GALEO, the Democratic Socialists of America and the discredited Alinsky-ites at the SPLC.

Image: GBPI

While the report acknowledges in a graphic that estimates show Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than Lawful Permanent Residents (“green card” holders) – GBPI overlooked informing readers that according to DHS, we also have more illegal aliens than border-state Arizona.

With its focus on monetary cost, the main target of GBPI’s anti-enforcement report is Gwinnett County and the 287(g) agreement Sheriff Butch Conway has had with ICE since 2009. (Full – and proud – disclosure, this writer has worked to promote and create 287 (g) agreements since 2005). Gwinnett has the largest population of illegal ‘victims of borders’ in the state. But, GBPI is careful to exclude the human costs of illegal immigration and the crime it creates in Georgia.

Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway responds with pro-enforcement facts

Here is some public safety-related information not included in the GBPI report from Gwinnett County Sheriff Conway, taken from a statement he sent to this writer on Monday.

“In regard to the cost of locating and reporting illegal aliens in our jail who have committed additional crimes, we point to the results of the original 2009 trial “surge” in the preparation for our 287(g) agreement. That process resulted in federal immigration enforcement officials identifying 914 foreign-born inmates in the Gwinnett County jail for deportation.

This was conducted over a 26-day period.

As previously reported, 489 of the 914 inmates identified as illegal aliens had previous arrests. Some had been arrested and booked numerous times in our jail alone.

Charges for these foreign inmates included, but are not limited to:
Murder 13                     Felony drug offense 154
Rape 15                       Theft of motor vehicle 7
Child molestation 23          DUI 48
Aggravated assault 38        Felony probation violation 42
Armed robbery 28            Hit and run 6
Kidnapping 11                Homicide by vehicle 1
Family violence battery 12    Other felony offenses 45
Burglary 17                    Misdemeanor probation violation 55
Felony theft 34               No driver’s license 226

Please note that only the most serious charges are listed for inmates with multiple charges.

I have no doubt that Gwinnett County is safer today because of the 287(g) program. There are dramatically lower numbers of foreign-born individuals committing crimes in our county since the program began in November 2009.

During that year, our jail processed 14,730 foreign born arrestees” says Conway.

You can read the entire statement from Sheriff Conway here.

The staff at GBPI – where the slogan is “we offer thoughtful analysis and responsible solutions to improve the state’s budget, taxes and public policies” – tell us that protecting Georgians from illegal immigration is just not worth it. We do not agree, but would ask for an enlightened estimate on the acceptable monetary costs of removing illegal aliens accused of murder, rape and child molestation from our communities – and how doing so reduces public safety.

And, we look forward to learning where Georgia Budget and Policy Institute stands on “Abolish ICE!”

D.A. King is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society. Twitter: @DAKDIS

Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway – CSPAN

Statement received here today from Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway regarding cooperation with federal immigration authorities and recent criticism that doing so is too costly, has an adverse effect on public safety and is bad for children.

“I gladly take advantage of every available tool, including the 287 (g) program, to serve and protect our community. I’m grateful for the support of the federal government that has allowed our office to participate in this life-saving, crime-reducing 287(g) program under two different White House administrations.

It’s important to understand that the illegal alien population in our jail has been reduced as a direct result of the 287(g) program. I’m confident that we have saved tax dollars in many ways and reduced crime by participating in this program.

In regard to the cost of locating and reporting illegal aliens in our jail who have committed additional crimes, we point to the results of the original 2009 trial “surge” in the preparation for our 287(g) agreement. That process resulted in federal immigration enforcement officials identifying 914 foreign-born inmates in the Gwinnett County jail for deportation. This was conducted over a 26-day period.

As previously reported, 489 of the 914 inmates identified as illegal aliens had previous arrests. Some had been arrested and booked numerous times in our jail alone. Charges for these foreign inmates included, but are not limited to:

Murder 13                                           Felony drug offense 154

Rape 15                                              Theft of motor vehicle 7

Child molestation 23                                DUI 48

Aggravated assault 38                              Felony probation violation 42

Armed robbery 28                                   Hit and run 6

Kidnapping 11                                       Homicide by vehicle 1

Family violence battery 12                          Other felony offenses 45

Burglary 17                                           Misdemeanor probation violation 55

Felony theft 34                                      No driver’s license 226

*** Please note that only the most serious charges are listed for inmates with multiple charges.

I have no doubt that Gwinnett County is safer today because of the 287(g) program. There are dramatically lower numbers of foreign born individuals committing crimes in our county since the program began in November 2009.

During that year, our jail processed 14,730 foreign born arrestees.

That number dropped to 10,847 in 2010 and has consistently dropped since, ranging from 6,350 to 6,604 between 2011 and 2016. In July of 2009, our jail held 914 inmates with ICE holds. Yesterday there were 229 inmates with ICE holds. Additionally, our jail population has decreased while our county population has increased.

The concept that I should stop a program that deports illegal aliens who have committed crimes in our community defies logic. Our efforts have established Gwinnett County as an undesirable refuge for criminal illegal aliens and we want it to remain that way. I can’t help but wonder what the critics of such enforcement would say to the families of crime victims who were seriously injured or killed by illegal aliens.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Georgia hosts more illegal aliens than Arizona. We know that enforcement works as a tool to make our state and county less attractive to more illegal immigration and we know that we are saving lives with 287(g) while honoring ICE detainers. I’m proud to do so.

I welcome people of all nationalities that come to America and obey our laws, but will continue my efforts to rid our community of those who do not.”

Bill Torpy, photo AJC

AJC

Letters

June 8, 2018

Torpy dead wrong on his immigration conclusion

A recent column by the AJC’s Bill Torpy on the front of the Metro section falsely referred to me as an “anti-immigration activist.” The widely known truth is that for the last 15 years I have proudly fought for sanity in immigration and enforcement of American immigration laws. That effort is easily and succinctly described as “pro-enforcement.”

For the record – yet again – I am not “anti-immigration” any more than the folks at Mothers Against Drunk Driving are “anti-driving.” Neither is my adopted sister, who is an immigrant.

In today’s media, the angry leftists who scream in American streets waving placards that literally demand an end of immigration enforcement are usually described as “civil rights” or “immigrant rights” groups. Never the obvious “anti-enforcement” groups.

A majority of Americans – including millions of immigrants – support honoring our rich tradition of immigration with the unapologetic enforcement of our very liberal immigration laws. The fact that media writers intentionally and deceptively depict us as being “anti-immigration” is an illustration of the inherent liberal bias and eagerness to smear honest Americans on the most critical issue of our time.

AJC writer Torpy seems to be “anti-accuracy.”

D.A. KING, MARIETTA, PRESIDENT, THE DUSTIN INMAN SOCIETY

Here.

photo: AJC.com

The AJC “news” report is HERE.

I have added some links to the letters below to educate the reader. I post them here in case the AJC forgets to publish any of them.

*Added October 30, 2017 8:45 PM: The letters below were sent to the AJC and copied to me. The one above was posted tonight in the AJC for the Oct. 31 edition. The author did not copy me.

__

To the editor,

As an immigrant and an advisory board member of the Dustin Inman Society, I find your articles that repeatedly characterize the Dustin Inman Society as anti-immigrant, and now via slanders of the Southern Poverty Law Center, as a “nativist extremist group,” to be extremely offensive.

My parents and aunts and uncles fled a communist regime and spent years in refugee camps, and only emigrated after finding sponsors. They went through the proper steps.

One of the most important civics lessons I learned as a schoolgirl in Rochester, New York, in the 1960s was that the United States system was based on fairness.

To blur the lines between legal and illegal, as your newspaper has repeatedly done, is a violation of the underlying principles of American justice and an insult to all immigrants.

Sincerely,
Mary Grabar
Clinton, NY 13323

—

Dear editor,

My family recently returned to Texas where I grew up in a border town after 16 years in the Atlanta area. We still monitor Georgia politics, especially immigration issues. I am a proud Latina donor and board member of The Dustin Inman Society; we follow our friend D.A. King’s efforts to help people understand the truth on immigration and the law.

I was stunned and outraged when I read the AJC piece on King and the Immigration Board that curiously featured the SPLC and remarks from Jerry Gonzalez of GALEO. Gonzalez is widely known for opposition to any immigration enforcement efforts – state or federal. The Anti Defamation League has criticized SPLC for faking a “hate-group” crisis.

Georgia corporations, including the AJC’s parent company, Cox Enterprises, largely fund GALEO. It is insulting that this wasn’t noted in the AJC piece about D.A. King and The Dustin Inman Society’s citizen donors.

Maria Silvia Montoya

Sherman, TX 75092

—

Dear editor,

As a Black American conservative and proud member of the Board of Advisors of the Dustin Inman Society, I was saddened to see the AJC report on the Immigration Enforcement Review Board that seemed to stray into smear politics.

I have been a friend of D.A. King for more than a decade and have worked alongside him as a volunteer at the Gold Dome to educate legislators on our illegal immigration crisis. I have also watched the SPLC smear conservative political opponents as “hate groups” in an effort to discredit our work. Referring to D.A. King as anything but an honest, hard working patriot who believes in immigration sanity is shameful.

I have had first hand experience with the SPLC when, along with many Black, Asian and Hispanic Americans, I attended an informative 2015 immigration seminar in Washington, DC that the SPLC later falsely described as a “white nationalist” meeting.

The AJC has damaged its reputation by using the race-baiting and discredited SPLC as an authority on immigration and integrity.

Inger Eberhart
Kennesaw

—

To the editor:

Your article entitled “Georgia’s immigration enforcement panel draws scrutiny” came across as over the top biased against the Dustin Inman Society and its founder D.A. King. The credibility really went down the tubes when you used The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a supposed reliable source. By their definition I would be considered a hate group because of a Christian organization I belong to that believes in traditional values. You can do better than this.

Leslie McPherson
Villa Rica, GA

—

Dear editor,

Re; the AJC on D.A. King: The Dustin Inman Society is named after a 16 year-old Woodstock boy who was killed by an illegal alien who escaped capture and is now hiding out in Mexico. D.A. King has been fighting illegal immigration since he quit his own business in 2003. In your report we find out the SPLC wants to label The Dustin Inman Society a “hate group.”

King should be thanked for the complaints against the officials in Georgia who are evidently violating state laws.

The SPLC is a fake civil rights group that has a poor record. In 1994 Alabama, the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper reported African-Americans had never “held top management positions in the center’s [then] 23-year history, and some former employees say blacks are treated like second-class citizens.”

That the AJC reporter used the discredited SPLC to attack King and the Dustin Inman Society says a lot about the AJC reporter.

Bill Buckler

Kennesaw

—

Editor,

The article this week about the Dustin Inman Society and complaints about violations of state laws on illegal immigration filed by D.A. King seemed to us like the AJC had other things on their mind.

Inserting the SPLC into the news article was rather obvious.

My wife is an immigrant, which means she is here lawfully. We resent the AJC headlines that read “immigrant” when the topic of the story is clearly illegal aliens who are usually portrayed as victims. We want our borders secured and our laws enforced. Even for immigrants. The SPLC attacks virtually everyone who thinks like this. Your reporter also told us that Jerry Gonzalez doesn’t like King or the immigration enforcement board, but we saw no reference to where Gonzalez gets the money to operate GALEO while he protests against immigration enforcement.

We need more D.A. Kings and far fewer people like Gonzalez and the SPLC staff. And we need fair reporting.

John Litland

Marietta

The editors seem none to happy with me either…

Atlanta Jewish Times
January 28, 2016

Our View: Perdue’s Betrayal

On Monday, Jan. 18, Georgia’s first-term U.S. senator, David Perdue, issued a brief statement honoring Martin Luther King Jr., whose “actions to advance justice continue to inspire us all to do better.” Two days later, Perdue stood in the way of justice and betrayed King’s ideals.

Perdue scuttled the U.S. District Court nomination of a fellow Republican, Dax Lopez, because of concerns about “his longstanding participation in a controversial organization.” That controversial organization isn’t the Communist Party or domestic terrorists ready to seize Fort McPherson, nor is Lopez tied to neo-Nazis or the Klan, neither of which would likely welcome the Jewish Latino from DeKalb County.

No, the dread organization is the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. For Lopez, a Latino elected official as a state judge, being part of GALEO is about as radical as Congressman John Lewis being a member of the NAACP.

In fact, the NAACP, with its responses to issues of particular concern to the black community, such as police shootings and Confederate memorials, could be seen as every bit as controversial as GALEO, whose offense is activism on behalf of Hispanic immigrants, even those here illegally.

Standing up for fellow Latinos puts GALEO on the wrong side of an increasingly rabid group of activists for whom absolutism on immigration — no illegals, no amnesty, no reform, no exceptions — is the political litmus test of our time.

That group has the ear of Perdue, who gave far less time to Lopez than to people such as D.A. King, a rhetorical warrior against “the vast, corporate-funded illegal alien lobby.” To put King in perspective, he wants to oust Rep. Tom Price, one of the most conservative members of the House Republican leadership, for being too soft on immigration enforcement.

King threatened the political futures of Perdue and Sen. Johnny Isakson, who is running for re-election, if Lopez even got a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

By custom, the Senate does not consider judicial nominations without the go-ahead of the senators from the nominee’s state. Isakson told King in a public forum that Lopez deserved a hearing. Perdue, whose cousin Sonny Perdue as governor first put Lopez on the bench in 2010, disagreed.

We’re not sure which possibility is worse: that Perdue is scared of King or that he agrees with him… READ THE REST HERE

Opponents of Lopez nomination make their case  

Jay Bookman blog
January 13, 2016

NOTE (from jay Bookman): In a recent column, I criticized Georgia anti-immigration activists who are trying to block the confirmation of DeKalb State Court Judge Dax Lopez to the federal bench. Below is the response to that column by D.A. King of Cobb County.

By D.A. King

Writing on the Obama judicial nomination of GALEO’s Dax Lopez, Jay Bookman’s smear attack on me and my friend Phil Kent in the AJC serves as a brilliant reminder of the mindset of most liberals on immigration and politics.

Bookman makes it clear that he looks at the world through the lens of race, skin color and ethnicity. Not only does he intentionally muddle those categories, he assumes that the rest of us suffer from the same disability. We don’t.

“Hispanic” is not the opposite of “white” (or black) and is not a race. Neither is “illegal.” Nor am I “anti-immigrant.” Like most of the mainstream, this proud American supports legal, sustainable and reasonable levels of immigration that benefits the United States and protects Americans. Including immigrants. My adopted sister is an immigrant. That sacred term legally describes someone who entered the U.S. lawfully.

Like the late Barbara Jordan, it is my long-held – and public – position that we cannot honor real immigrants or our immigration system unless and until we adhere to a policy of an equal application of our immigration laws. Bookman provides useful insight by labeling that view “extremist.”

Since it seems to matter, as a political independent, I am also a member of the Federalist Society. So is Phil Kent. I expect that more than a few of the many Republican legislators and sheriffs who have written to our U.S. senators in opposition to Lopez are as well.

Bookman’s attack is yet another attempt from the far-left to blur the lines between immigrants and what the federal government, including the Supreme Court, refers to as “illegal aliens.” I personally target illegal employers more than illegal aliens. It would be helpful if Jay Bookman did the same.

The panels from which Georgia’s U.S. senators accepted vetting information on Lopez mostly failed to include information easily accessed on the GALEO website. I am proud to have provided both senate offices with facts and statements taken directly from that source after President Obama nominated Lopez for a lifetime seat on the federal bench.

The confirmation of Dax Lopez is not being opposed because of his ethnicity, and also contrary to what Bookman writes, opposition is directly connected to what Lopez has said and done. As a director of the GALEO corporation for eleven years, state court judge Dax Lopez’s position as treasurer there and his willingness to not only help form and advance the agenda of that group while assisting in raising operating funds does not a “conservative” make. It should be enough to drive most conservatives -including Republicans – away from silent acceptance of his confirmation.

Since 2003, the corporate-funded GALEO has viciously condemned any law enforcement office that dares to enforce immigration laws. Dax Lopez’s statement that he “agrees with their mission” must always be viewed with the knowledge that GALEO Inc. has marched in the streets of Georgia in opposition to enforcement, lobbied against state E-Verify laws designed to protect legal workers, lobbied against local jails honoring ICE holds for criminal aliens and vehemently opposed voter ID. And they lobby against English as our official language.

No wonder activist Lopez is not speaking to the press.

Note, the added links are all mine…dak

The Atlanta Journal Constitution 

Letters to the editor

January 13, 2016

Pro-enforcement is not “anti-immigrant”

Jay Bookman (“Snub of judge will echo,” Opinion, Jan. 10) seems to look at the world through the lens of race, skin color and ethnicity. Apparently he assumes that the rest of us suffer from the same disability. We don’t.

Like the late Barbara Jordan, it is my long-held position that we cannot honor real immigrants unless we adhere to a policy of an equal application of our immigration laws. It is not “anti-immigrant” to demand immigration enforcement.

Bookman provides useful insight by labeling that view “extremist.

Confirmation of GALEO’s Dax Lopez for federal judge is not being opposed because of his ethnicity, but because of what he has said and done as a director of the GALEO corporation for 11 years.

Dax Lopez’s statement that he “agrees with their mission” must always be viewed with the knowledge that, since 2003, the corporate-funded GALEO Inc. has viciously condemned law enforcement officers who dare to enforce immigration laws. GALEO has marched in the streets of Georgia for another amnesty, lobbied against state E-Verify laws designed to protect legal workers, against local jails honoring ICE holds for criminal aliens and vehemently opposed voter ID. And they lobby against English as our official language.

No wonder Lopez is not speaking to the press.

D.A. KING, MARIETTA, PRESIDENT, DUSTIN INMAN SOCIETY

MDJ

Published, September 21, 2012

Dear editor,

DEAR EDITOR: Liberals have little in the way of facts, but a great deal of mindless attacks to peddle. I quit reading Kevin Foley’s column on “Contrasting Conventions” (Sept. 7 MDJ) when I reached the part where he writes: “We met Julian Castro, the dynamic young mayor of San Antonio who told of his family’s fierce determination to make it in their adopted country. ‘My mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone,’ Castro declared.”

While I don’t suffer from the guilt for being a white American as Foley seems to, and not that I have any hope that it will change his view, a little injection of fact that may help other readers understand him and the rest of the Open Borders left is in order. Foley’s use of the term “anti-immigration” is an indicator of the endless effort to redefine the language to suit the leftist agenda. He rails against the ideals of the majority of Americans who demand that we actually enforce our immigration laws by labeling those of us who stand up for secure borders and enforcement as “anti-immigration.”

This is straight out of the La Raza handbook on “how to” marginalize anyone who gets in their way. Illegal aliens are not immigrants and honoring our immigration system by enforcing immigration laws is not “anti-immigration.” And Foley isn’t fooling anyone but other liberals.

At our house, where my wife is a proud immigrant — which by definition means she is here legally — we honor real immigrants. We know the USA takes in more than one million legal immigrants each year. More than any nation in the world. It is knee-jerk liberals like Foley who are truly the “antis.” He is anti-enforcement if it will keep Comrade Obama in power. We also know that pandering to the un-American loons in the open borders lobby may buy some votes, but it is ruining our country.

We look forward to when Foley rails against Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for being “anti-automobile.”

A short education on the Mayor of San Antonio Julian Castro mentioned by Foley will help other readers as well. Along with his twin, Joaquin, who is currently running for Congress, the Castro boys learned their politics on their mother’s knee. Their mother helped found a radical, anti-white, socialist Chicano party called La Raza Unida (literally “The Race United”) a separatist group unsuccessfully camouflaged as a “civil rights” effort which sought to create a separate country in the American Southwest.

Castro’s mother helps manage her sons’ political careers. Far from denouncing her radical politics, he sees them as his inspiration. While not as radical as Obama, Castro sounds just like someone Foley will soon support for higher office.

John Litland Marietta

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – Foley only fooling fellow liberals